For Auburn basketball, The Jungle provides advantage few teams enjoy
AUBURN — To Michael Floyd, this was the peak. Only until it wasn't.
Nothing was better than lining up outside of Neville Arena hours in advance of Auburn basketball's Friday evening showdown with Cal State Northridge. There wasn't a moment that could top then-football coach Gus Malzahn meeting with the students before the game that November night, handing out Domino's pizza boxes and amping the crowd up for not only the imminent basketball contest — the Tigers would easily handle the Matadors by 46 points — but also his team's game against then-No. 4 Georgia the next day.
Freshman quarterback Bo Nix gave it his best shot less than 24 hours later, throwing the ball 50 times in a 21-14 loss to the Bulldogs. But Auburn didn't have enough Jordan-Hare magic to get the upset done, as Kirby Smart's team held off a late push from the Tigers.
But that wasn't the point that weekend. Not to Floyd, and not to the students who were lined up ready to support their basketball team against a severely overmatched opponent that hadn't had a winning season since 2008.
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What mattered to them was providing an atmosphere that a Final Four team deserves. Auburn was seven months removed from its devastating loss to Virginia that featured Kyle Guy knocking down three consecutive free throws with less than a second remaining, but the 2019-20 roster still had pieces of that team on it: Samir Doughty, J'Von McCormick, Anfernee McLemore, Danjel Purifoy and Austin Wiley.
Floyd didn't create The Jungle, but he has helped mold it into what it is today. And what it is today is one of the biggest off-the-court advantages a team can have: "I think the environment is like all that you want college basketball to be," Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams said after his team lost at Auburn earlier this season. "Everybody's hollering at me and mad at the officials and as far as you can see people are standing up there. They're here as soon as we get here."
Floyd, who spent three terms as the vice president of the student section, saw his time in the position came to an end in August. But he remains a fixture at Neville Arena and a constant hub of energy during home games.
"That year, we had College Gameday for the first time ever in school history," Floyd said of the 2019-20 season, which included the game against CSUN. Floyd, who was freshman then, was not yet the VP of The Jungle. "That was electric. Kind of weird, but it’s kind of similar to this year. You had a team that was battling for that top spot in the SEC. Now, this year’s team is battling for the first spot in the SEC with Alabama and South Carolina and Tennessee. ... That year, it was LSU, Kentucky and us."
Auburn finished No. 2 in the SEC that season with a 25-6 overall record, poised to make a run in both the SEC and NCAA Tournament. That never happened, of course, as the COVID-19 pandemic put the sports world and beyond on hold.
Whatever that team was destined to do in the postseason will remain a mystery, but this season's edition of the Tigers, which Floyd drew parallels to that 2019-20 squad, has a chance to make its own history.
Winning the regular-season SEC title remains a goal, and beating Alabama on Wednesday (6 p.m. CT, ESPN2) will go a long way in helping Auburn get that done. The Tigers still have to deal with teams such as Kentucky, South Carolina and Tennessee down the line, but topping the first-place Crimson Tide is step one.
It'll also serve as Auburn's first opportunity for a Quadrant 1 win in Neville Arena this season.
"It's the Iron Bowl," Floyd said. "... I expect it to be filled to the brim. I expect students to line up early. I’m expecting a great atmosphere. Alabama is arguably the best team in the SEC as of right now, and they have to come to our home court finally to play us. ... Now we get to showcase to the world that when you give us an opportunity in The Jungle, we know how to capitalize off of it.”
Floyd has experienced the golden age of Auburn basketball, with the Tigers compiling a 105-43 record in his time as a student. He's seen Auburn reach its first ever No. 1 ranking in the AP Top 25 Poll during the 2021-22 season, and he watched his Tigers win a conference title that same year.
But what he hasn't seen is that type of regular-season success coupled with postseason wins. This version of Auburn has a chance to change that, and its got The Jungle to help until then. The Tigers are 43-2 at home over their last 45 tests, including a current 14-game winning streak.
That's on the line versus the Crimson Tide.
"I thought my freshman year that the crowds couldn’t get any better," Floyd said. "And now we see what they were two years ago when we were No. 1 and even this year, when we’re doing so well like we are now. ... That goes to what coach BP (Bruce Pearl) is putting on the court. ... Sellout after sellout. Record-breaking crowds. Intimidating environments. ...
"It’s just amazing to see the increase in student demand of going to see a basketball game at Auburn. Growing up, yes I watched Auburn basketball. But it was always Kentucky, it was always Duke, it was always North Carolina, it was always Gonzaga. Now it’s Auburn. You’re seeing that and how the students and this community is rallying around basketball.”
Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rich_silva18.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: The Jungle provides advantage for Auburn basketball few teams enjoy
